Cheap. Quick. Delicious. These are three traits that a fast food restaurant needs in order to thrive in a college town, and one new spot has them all. Cook Out opened on 15th Street last week, and each day since customers have flooded the restaurant and backed up the drive thru line with the hopes of tasting the new options. Many students have experienced Cook Out at one of its many east coast locations, but some are tasting the food for the first time. Tuscaloosa customers are catching Cook Out fever as the popular chain churns out burgers, corn dogs, milkshakes and more.
“I think Cook Out is a great thing for Tuscaloosa,” said Hampton Glenn, a sophomore majoring in biology. “It obviously is, because the line is always out the door. I had never heard of it before two weeks ago.”
Cook Out offers with ease what many other fast food chains struggle to provide. Despite being packed every night until the early hours of the morning, Cook Out is able to service its customers with consistency. Steven Pitts, a junior majoring mechanical engineering, said he is impressed with the speed at which Cook Out operates.
“I like that it’s incredibly cheap, and by the time they have taken your order, you barely have time to fill up your drink before your food is ready,” Pitts said. “That being said, the speed does not compromise the taste.”
The expansiveness of Cook Out and its customers has also made an impact on other fast-food restaurants in Tuscaloosa. Other restaurants, like Taco Bell and McDonald’s, typically have long lines of cars wrapping around their establishments, but in the past week, they have not.
“I went to Cook Out one night for me and the drive thru was on the street and then I went to Taco Bell after for my friend, and their drive thru was only two cars long,” said Paris Malensek, a junior majoring in psychology. “Some of my friends love Taco Bell and go there all the time, but I go to Cook Out.”
Cook Out may have struck gold with its location in Tuscaloosa in terms of both popularity and convenience. While some restaurants take some time to establish themselves within a fast-food-stocked environment like Tuscaloosa, Cook Out has been popular since day one, and it doesn’t look like business is going to slow any time soon.
“It is a great place to eat because its quick, cheap and the food is great,” Glenn said. “I have already eaten there four times and I have gotten the big double burger and quesadillas every time.”
